


The Collectibles

by Gaia_bing



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action Figures, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Toy Story Fusion, Bearded Steve Rogers, But they're not from The Avengers, First Meetings, Happy Ending, M/M, Thor is an actual hammer in this one, Toys, While Tony is a bootleg copy of Google Home, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-08-04
Packaged: 2020-05-30 19:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19409845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaia_bing/pseuds/Gaia_bing
Summary: One was one of a kind, but all alone......while the the other was discontinued, neglected and almost completely forgotten.What happens when they come together and the ice that had built around the heart that they both didn't possess begins to melt?





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah...after having seen Toy Story 4, this came into my mind. I know that there are other stories like this out there, but I haven't seen one for this particular branch of the fandom before.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

Since Natasha had the privilege of sitting (or in this case, standing) in the front seat that was Peggy Carter's home office, she was the first to hear about it.

  
A birthday was coming up...

  
An order had been made on the cheap, thanks to the wonders (or in this case, the hell) that was Ebay...

  
And a father was pissed the fuck off.

  
"So, if I get everything right, you thought you were going to receive the brand new Iphone for the measly 200 dollars you ended up bidding with and you ended up with...oh my..." said the wavy-haired woman, her own smartphone stuck between her shoulder and her ear while she flipped through web pages and checked the e-mail she'd just received.

  
That woman was a collector if there ever was one.

  
Anything old, that had stayed into some attic and had gathered dust with time, she craved.

  
Anything that wasn't used anymore, its owner having no idea what to do with it, she salivated over.

  
Anything that had some kind of default, that had been produced for a limited time or better, had simply _stopped_ being produced, it was like Christmas morning for her.

  
And yeah, if the embedded picture that she was staring at right now was the real deal and not some schmuck trying to make a quick buck by blaming another schmuck, it would be like Christmas and her Birthday got together, took a little bit too much wine and ended up producing the greatest gift she'd ever been given:

  
An authentic Bucky Barnes.

  
She bit her lip, thinking hard about the next sentence she was about to let out. She could lose one hell of a get if she said what she was thinking of saying, but if there was one thing Peggy Carter was known for, it was her honesty.

  
"Well, sir, I know it wasn't the gift you wanted to give your daughter, but you *do* realize that with what you ended up getting instead, you could afford at least two or three of those new IPhones you wanted and you could make your money back many, _many_ times over if you asked for its real valued price?"

  
She waited a moment, silently praying that her big mouth and sometimes stupid sense of morals hadn't ruined everything.

  
....and couldn't help but beam when the man that she'd met through a frustrated-looking question on one of the SubReddits that was part of her daily online reading routine didn't end up dashing her acquiring dream after all.

  
"Yes, yes, I understand, it's the principle of it all." she continued from her end of the cell line.

  
"And you want to get rid of it ASAP and at least have your money back, since you can only afford one gift this year thanks to having no job because of your prison time, I understand. Well, Mr. Lang, how about this: on top of the money that you ended up spending on this "metallic freak of a figurine" like you called it, I'm going to add the difference so that your teenage daughter can actually get that newest IPhone of hers and legitimately this time? So, say...800 $ total? You're going to take it? Great! No, no, money isn't an issue for me. I wouldn't be offering you this kind of deal if it was, believe me."

  
She scribbled down something inside her trusty notebook and let out a yelp of pure joy when she put her phone face-down on top of her working desk.

  
She quickly went over to the make-up desk that she'd set up just a few feet from there, and picked up the small jewelry box that was adorned by a red-haired ballerina.

  
"You do realize what I'm about to maybe get, Nat? An actual Bucky Barnes!" she called out with a laugh in her voice. "I've been wanting one of those bad boys for years!" she said to the elongated plastic woman.

  
From her spot inside her owner's hands and through her stilled smile, Natasha couldn't help but silently agree. _"I know, I've been right here... hearing all of the moaning and all the complaining."_ she couldn't help but think to herself.

  
Peggy continued her speech to pretty much no one as she said: "And here I thought they weren't making them anymore, or that at least everyone that should have one had already gotten it. But... I'm probably getting one tomorrow...for half the price that its worth on the market..." she sing-songed and carefully, she turned the key of the [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkIV4fsagCA) box that sheltered some of her most precious treasures...

  
While the rest was scattered all across her inherited home.

  
She danced alongside the now-moving Natasha.

  
"And the greatest thing about all of this is...my Steve Rogers will not be alone anymore!"

  
That right there almost made the red-headed woman skip a step inside her so-well practiced routine.

  
Her plastic joyful face turned to one of slight worry when she noticed that Peggy was no longer looking at her as she thought:

  
_"Oh great, how in the world am I going to tell Steve that the one thing he's hated for over 25 years is probably going to come live with us?"_


	2. The news

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The news is dropped on the most inappropriate person.

Natasha waited until 1:14 AM to finally make her move.

  
Well, to simply _move_ actually.

  
Quickly, she stretched her elongated and stiff limbs, got out of the red felt that was the interior of the music box and turned on a nearby lamp.

  
Grabbing the lid of what she'd called home ever since she'd come into this world, or most pointedly, grabbing the mirror that was placed underneath it and that her owner used to pick which earrings or which bracelets she'd be wearing for the day, she waved the decorated piece of wood and glass up and down and made the light reflect down the nearby hall.

  
_C-O-A-S-T I-S C-L-E-A-R_

  
She smiled when the code that she and everyone else had made up to communicate when they weren't near one another came back.

_M-E-S-S-A-G-E R-E-C-E-I-V-E-D_

  
_P-O-K-E-R L-I-K-E S-C-H-E-D-U-L-E-D-?_

  
The redhead's grin turn into a frown. Thursday night had always been Poker night between them but tonight, there were way more pressing things to deal with than Royal Flushes and Full Houses.

  
So, she did like she always did when she had something nerve-wracking to accomplish, she gritted her plastic teeth and plunged ahead.

  
_N-O P-O-K-E-R_

  
_E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y M-E-E-T-I-N-G I-N-S-T-E-A-D_

* * *

  
They were all gathered (well, four out of the six of them) on the kitchen table, staring at their owner's phone. On it, the same embedded picture that Peggy had pretty much squeed over the moment it'd came over her email box was staring right back at them.

  
"So, this is the notorious Bucky Barnes, huh?" one of them asked.

  
"Yep." responded Natasha, swapping her plastic hand over the phone surface so that the group could see a shot of its back.

  
"He's kinda cute, if you ask me." the one that had asked the previous question couldn't help but add.

  
"But wait!" another one of them interjected. "Are we sure this is not some kind of fallacy, or an attempt at extortion, if you will? Whose to say if this figurine is really as authentic as they say it is and maybe this Lang fellow is trying to build a kingdom of lies just to obtain-"

  
The diatribe that had just begun was quickly stopped when Natasha once again raised her plastic hand, but in the air of the dimly-lit room this time around.

  
"Don't worry, I checked out everything Peggy didn't. It turns out that yeah, this Lang fellow as you so poetically put it, _did_ in fact do some prison time..."

  
She once again raised her hand to stop the incoming wave of mutterings, questions and the likes as she continued: " _But_ , it was for not being able to pay years worth of speeding tickets and _not_ anything thief or fraud-related. So you can all calm your jimmies and stop worrying, I'm pretty sure our owner's knows what's she's doing here and what we're looking at is in fact a real 1989 Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, found in some long-forgotten crate in Siberia and brought here to be sold as an IPhone X."

  
Closing their owner's own phone, she added:

  
"Look, she noted that Mr. Lang's coming by tomorrow to make the transaction and if my sixth sense is right, _I_ 'll have to be the one play the role of tour guide and most importantly, translator. So, when you see him, be casual and try to make him feel at home, okay?"

  
At the other three present's nod, she finished with a raised finger:

  
"And whatever you guys do, do _not_ tell Steve about this."

  
_"...tell me about what?"_ came a voice from behind her.

  
Ah, _crap_. Natasha didn't want to deal with this right now. She wanted to wait until the morning, meet with the source of the voice one-on-one and explain everything in a calm and relaxed atmosphere.

  
Maybe she could still get out of this, she thought to herself as she put on her best smile, turned her head and replied:

  
"Hey, Stevie! How's it goin'? You already finished your watch!?"

  
The plastic bearded and black-cladded man standing in front of her tilted his head at her sudden burst of joy and replied with a careful: "...yeah. Tony ended casting my daily episode of _"Lost"_ twenty minutes ago. And since the Poker deck was still on the coffee table, I thought I'd gathered everything and bring it here myself. What's going on?"

  
Natasha was on the way to suggest that absolutely nothing was going on, silly! And hey, why don't we play cards after all?

  
She would have, if the idiot that Clint sometimes was hadn't opened his own cylindrical mouth first to retort:

  
"Oh, not much, just that Peggy's about to acquire a Bucky Barnes and he's coming to live with us tomorrow!"

  
Again, ah _crap_.

  
Steve's voice dropped an octave and his eyes squinted together as he let out a seething: _"What?"_

  
Natasha tried to defuse the suddenly tense situation by replying: "Hey, look Steve. Nobody here had anything to do with this. This was a 100% Peggy here, okay? She has no idea about how you feel, alright? She doesn't know that..."

  
"That all of the Buckys are just a bunch of abandoning assholes who should be far, _far_ away from any of the Steves this world has to offer, so that don't end up suffering the butt-kicking of a lifetime for what they did to us?!" Steve replied, dropping the pack of cards he'd brought along with a loud clacking noise.

Natasha tried to reason with the action figure: "Look, Steve-"

  
Now it was Steve's turn to raise a plastic hand as he sighed longly before replying: "Look, I don't want to hear it, Nat. If Peggy's acquiring a Bucky Barnes, then she's acquiring a Bucky Barnes, there's nothing much I can do about that fact."

  
Turning his plastic form around, he called out behind his back before retreating once more:

  
"But if he's staying here, don't count on me to be a part of the welcoming committee. Or any kind of committee that has to be near him, actually."

* * *

  
It was 4AM now and Steve was still sitting on the couch, still sulking and staring ahead as the image on the TV had been paused a long time ago.

  
A voice came from beside him. _"You know, Peggy is going to wonder why the image of a falling man has been imprinted on the television screen if you keep it like that."_

  
Sighing at the image he'd been staring at for two hours now, the bearded man turned his head and his lips turned upwards slightly as he replied to the spheric plastic and metallic box sitting right next to him: "Yeah, I know, sorry. Just shut if off, please."

  
And Tony, said plastic and metallic box, did just that and couldn't help but add: _"You know, you can't blame the Bucky that's coming to live here for what happened to you and all the other Steve Rogers. What happened in the TV World is just that, what happened in the TV World. It has nothing to do with what happened in the Real World, you know._ "

  
Steve dropped his head in his hands, not wanting to hear it.

  
_"Bucky and Rogers' Adventures through the 23rd Century"_ was a hit animated show that aired on television beginning in 1984.

  
It was 100% 80's,

  
It was 100% a Star Wars clone,

  
It was 100% America vs. URSS propaganda,

  
And it was all absolutely _glorious_.

  
Every week, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes would fly around in their red-white and blue spaceship, the USA-AMERICA-7-4, throughout the Universe, exploring different planets and foiling the plans of the evil, conquering entity that was Hydra, with their own spaceship, the dark and evil-looking URSS-SOVIET-12-30.

  
And of course, since this was the 80's and this was peak commercialism, just like the "My Little Ponys" and the "GI Joes" of its time, toys replica of the animated duo came up almost as soon as the first episode aired.

  
Pairs after pairs after pairs they came out,

  
A Bucky with a Steve and a Steve with a Bucky.

  
You could never see one without the other,

  
Or the other without one.

  
Because that's what they were really, always inseparable,

  
Always together,

  
_"Until the end of the line."_ , like they always promised each other at the end of every episode.

  
And it would have probably stayed that way for a long while...

  
...if, in May 1989, Hungary and Austria hadn't decided to open up their borders, leading to the end of the Cold War.

  
And so, the propaganda not working that well anymore and the 80's on the verge of finishing, _"Bucky and Rogers' Adventures through the 23rd Century"_ was abruptly cancelled in the Summer of 1989,

  
Leaving the series on a cliffhanger,

  
Leaving Bucky Barnes falling from a cliff, to be taken and brainwashed by Hydra and becoming their no.1 killer, the Winter Soldier.

  
And leaving Steve Rogers alone for the first time ever.

  
They did try to get out a Winter Soldier edition of Bucky Barnes for the Holidays,

  
A couple of thousands were produced,

  
But by then, the Berlin Wall had come down, the URSS had been dissolved and the world had simply moved on.

  
And becaue really, a Bucky Barnes without a Steve Rogers? Who in the world would get that?

  
So the Winter Soldiers action figures were discontinued, left behind and in the end, ended up being forgotten in time.

  
Unconditional fans of the show had been offered a glimpse of hope when in 1993, an animated movie had been announced as being in production.

  
Maybe this loose thread that had hung in the air for over 5 years now would finally be resolved.

  
Maybe Steve Rogers would finally be able to get through his best friend of always and shake him out of the hold Hydra had on him.

  
Maybe Bucky Barnes would become himself once more and he, along with Steve, would once again fly throughout the galaxies searching for any kind and every kind of adventures.

  
But, alas that never came.

  
Because since this was now the 90's, everything had to be "edgy".

  
And Steve Rogers was now "edgy".

  
He was now bearded,

  
He was now wearing black,

  
He was now a brooding mess,

  
And worst of all, he was all alone.

  
No Bucky Barnes of any kind to be seen to accompany him.

  
As for the 1994 released movie itself?

  
It was computer-generated,

  
It wasn't Pixar,

  
It was a complete mess,

  
It absolutely _sucked_.

  
And the company that made this particular lemon? Tried to get its money back by producing its own version of an edgy Steve Rogers.

  
The same kind of Steve Rogers that was busy sitting and sulking on that couch just now.

  
Once again, it didn't work. It just put the company even more down the financial hole.

  
And once again really, a Steve Rogers without a Bucky Barnes? Who in the world would get that?

  
And so Steve became a valuable piece of merchandising history and soon enough, became the property of a young Peggy Carter, who still treasured her 10th birthday gift as much now as she did back then.

  
Steve sighed as he kicked his little plastic feet against the plush cushions of the couch.

  
He'd always cursed every Bucky Barnes of this world for everything that had happened.

  
For getting taken,

For being brainwashed,

  
And most of all, for leaving him all alone.

  
But, then again, he still blamed himself more than his partner.

  
If only he'd saved Bucky from that cliff,

  
If only he'd tried something before everything unexpectedly ended,

  
If only he wasn't now such a whiny, petulant child...

  
Steve raised his head when he realized what he'd been thinking just now.

  
Maybe...maybe Tony was _right_.

  
Maybe this Bucky that was supposed to come here tomorrow wasn't to blame for what had happened to him. In the TV world or the Real World.

  
Maybe this Bucky was just as lost, silently afraid and most of all, as alone as he'd been for the past 25 years.

  
Because sure, he'd found some friends ever since Peggy had claimed all of them as her own, but really...

  
A Steve Rogers without a Bucky Barnes was all it ever was: _alone_.

  
And this Bucky Barnes didn't need a fate that it didn't deserve.

  
Steve clenched his plastic fists together as he made up his mind:

  
Even if it came out forced,

  
Even if it didn't end up working out,

  
Even if after all of this, he found himself on the solitary side once more...

  
For this Bucky's sake,

  
Hell for any Bucky's sake,

  
And most of all, for all of the Steve Rogers of this world,

  
He would at least try.


	3. The arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a day later and someone (or should we say, something) new arrives...

It was a day later and there was a plastic bag laying on the kitchen table.

  
The gathered group of plastic fellows, lead by Natasha, gently made their way into the room just as they heard its former occupants make their way to the courtyard den for some afternoon tea.

  
They'd seen and heard it all. Peggy and this Lang man, whose first name turned out to be Scott, making the transaction right before them.

  
The handshake as Scott entered the house through the kitchen door,

  
The nervousness in Peggy's form, like she was hoping she wasn't making a really, _really_ big mistake right there and then.

  
Said plastic bag that seemingly came out of thin air,

  
Peggy's little happy gasp when she peaked inside the bag and seemed quite pleased at what it contained.

  
The signing of the check,

  
The swinging of the bag on the table,

  
And the rest, as they say, was now happily chatting and sipping some minty Earl Grey in the afternoon light.

  
Escalating the chairs, the group ascended what to them was rather high wooden structure, but soon enough, here there all were, gathered around the plastic bag, who hadn't made a single peep or movement ever since the two large humans had left it there.

  
Standing on his iron tip, Clint was the first to make a move as he quietly called out: "Huh, hello?"

  
Nothing came from the bag.

  
"Hi..." tried Bruce from his side in a slightly louder voice.

Still nothing.

  
Everyone started to slightly murmur...

  
_"...are you guys sure there's something in there?"_

  
_"Yeah, I mean, you saw Peg's face. She seemed so excited when she saw what was in the bag, so it must contain what she wanted in the first place."_

  
_" **And,** she wouldn't have made that check if it wasn't."_

  
_"Well, if he's in there, why isn't he moving?"_

  
_"Or talking?"_

  
_"What's going on?"_

  
Everyone that is but Steve, who, after a long deciding sigh, gathered his courage and took a few steps forward, as he fisted his hands together and he was the one to call out now:

  
"...Bucky?"

  
And that seemed to do the trick somehow.

  
As something slowly rose up and formed a lump on one of the sides of the white bag,

  
And said lump just as slowly followed the plastic outline,

  
And a brown, long-haired man, clad in complete black, with a pair of googles and what looked like something you would put on a dog so he didn't bite covering his face, slowly came out of the bag, in a defensive crouching pose, turning his head left and right, taking in carefully his surroundings, before finally saying:

  
"Chto proiskhodit v mire?" ("What in the world is going on here?")

  
Natasha silently bit her lip. Her sixth sense was once again right on the money.. For once in her short life, she was happy that she had _"Made in Russia"_ stamped on one of her slipper-wearing shoes.

  
Raising her hands to indicate that she came in peace, she slowly approached the agitated-looking figure and replied with a reassuring voice:

  
"Vse v poryadke, vy v bezopasnom meste." (It's okay, you're in a safe place.")

  
"Gde ya?" ("Where am I?"), the figure asked, slowly taking the goggles off his face and making Steve slightly gasp.

  
Those eyes, they'd haunted his dreams, his thoughts...

  
Deep down, even though he wouldn't out loud admit to it, he'd always wanted to see them in real life and not passing through on a television screen...

  
And they were now looking straight at him, confused and lost, seemingly feeling just like he was feeling at this particular moment.

  
The figure spoke again, this time in Steve's direction: "YA znayu tebya, ne tak li?" ("I- I know you, don't I?")

  
The bearded man blinked a couple of times before shaking his head and replying: "I'm sorry, I don't understand..."

  
That made the other figure blink back and, seemingly realizing something, he raised on of his hands towards the upper half of his back as he explained to Natasha: "Na moyey spine knopka. YA mogu govorit' na vashem yazyke, yesli vy sdelayete eto." ("On my back, a button. I can speak your language if you slide it.")

  
The ballerina-clad redhead was immediately on it as her pointy feet quickly made their way behind the still slightly stand-offish figure,

  
That was when she saw the language button....

  
And all of the damage.

  
Not hesitating, she put her next 2 steps plans into motion as she:

  
1) Slid the black-painted button that was resting against the plastic's man back from _"Russian"_ to _"English"_.

  
And

  
2) Quickly went behind Steve's own back as she said: "Look, I know there's still a lot of questions and a great deal of confusion between and about the two of you, but do you know what I think would be a great first bonding exercise?"

  
Steve couldn't help but almost fall over right onto his plastic tuckus when the figure behind him gave his large frame a great push towards the new arrival as she added:

  
_"Painting repairs right from the Collectibles' Expert!"_


	4. The reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Bucky Barnes and a Steve Rogers are finally reunited.

Now that he was understanding English, meaning he comprehend what everyone was saying without the aid of a translator, The Winter Soldier, the 88th one that had been produced during the last summer of the 1980's to be precise, found that things were sort of...

  
... _strange_.

  
Stranger than what he felt when he opened his eyes and found himself inside a package just outside a conveyor belt.

  
(Wasn't there _someone_ that was supposed to be packaged along with him?)

  
Stranger than being tossed inside a large wooden box instead of being put on a shelf.

  
(Wasn't this his whole purpose, to be sold?)

  
Stranger than the next time he saw light again, he realized he'd been asleep for over 25 years.

  
(Hey, what else could he do inside a crate full of non-communicating things like pens and the such, besides catch some Zs? And being in Siberia didn't help his case of hibernation, being so freezing and everything...)

  
Stranger than being picked up by some man with a goatee, along with being inspected by an older-looking one.

  
(Both with really, _really_ sharp nails that hurt like a bitch.)

  
Even stranger than being tossed inside some white box that clearly wasn't meant for him.

  
(What in the world was an IPhone anyway?)

  
No, what he seeing right now...

  
Or rather, with who he'd been with ever since he'd been brought into this giant place that was supposed to be a house...

  
Really took the cake in the strange side of things.

  
There was a red-haired woman that was clad in a pink top and tutu that called herself Natasha,

  
There was a small, reserved and glasses-wearing man,

  
Who had another man, this one taller and greener than him, instead of a back that called himself Bruce.

  
There was Clint...

  
Who was a black and green plastic lawn dart with a pair of added googly eyes and a giant red smile made out of a piece of pipe-cleaner.

  
There was Thor...

  
Who was a basically a toy hammer that squeaked everytime he made a step while standing on his grey handle.

  
They had all been very nice to him when they'd each introduced themselves, that he could admit.

  
They had all did...

  
Except the one clad in black and sporting a beard.

  
Who didn't even tell him his name,

  
Who'd look away almost the second their eyes met,

  
Who'd retreated almost as fast as he'd come forward when Natasha had pushed on his back,

  
And who was now talking in a hushed voice with the redhead, now that the three of them had arrived inside what looked like an artist's treasure cove, filled to the brim with paint of every kind of colors that there was along with tools and accessories to use and go along said paint. He was sitting on top of a desk, near a square mirror, while the other two were still standing on the tiled-floor of the very large room.

  
"You've gotta be kidding me!" he could clearly hear the familiar-looking man say, thanks to his super-soldier hearing.

  
"No, I'm not!" he could hear Natasha retort.

  
"Nat, we didn't exchange more than 10 words in the two hours he's been here. And that's even less than with Tony!"

  
Ah yes, he'd almost forgotten Tony, or _TONIE_ , as he was supposedly called back in the Japanese region he'd come from. A yellow and red spherical box, that had called him _Sergeant Magnum_ for some reason, who was supposed to be a cheaper version of Google Home, but that had never caught on...

  
...just like himself never had.

  
He heard the man whisper again: "I tried, Nat, I wanted to give him a chance. But look at him, he's staring everywhere but this direction. He certainly doesn't want to be anywhere near me!"

  
"It's _you_ that doesn't want to be anywhere near _him_!"

  
"He's a Winter Soldier Edition! How in the world do you think he's going to trust me, even more so with applying paint on his body, when we're meant to be deadly enemies!"

  
"But you two were buddies once, you can be buddies again!"

  
The Winter Soldier reared his head back as his brows furrowed together in confusion.

  
Deadly enemies?

  
Why would he be deadly enemies with that guy, when he'd never seen him before today?

  
And, even _more_ confusing...

  
He and that man that for the life of him he could not recall ever meeting had been _friends_?

Was this the reason that this bearded fellow somehow seemed so familiar to him despite all of this?

  
What in the world was going on here?

  
The man in question sighed and dropped down his head, looking defeated: "Face it Nat, it was the Buckys and the Steves that were meant to be friends. The Winter Soldiers and the Steve Rogers of this world are..."

  
But the Winter Soldier never caught the rest of the sentence because suddenly, his ears began to ring.

  
... _Bucky_.

  
He knew that name somehow.

  
But where...and how?

  
And _Steve Rogers_.

  
His breath caught in his throat as he took another glance at the suddenly tired-looking man,

  
And, reaching behind his head, he finally took off the black muzzle that had covered the lower half of his face ever since he'd come out of that conveyor belt so long ago and, blinking his steel-blue eyes rapidly, he quietly called out:

  
"... _Steve_?"

  
That made the bearded plastic man look up and gasp, as he was staring now at the full face of his former best friend in another life.

  
And, for the first recorded time in history...

  
A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Edition smiled. 

* * *

  
"So, you guys call yourselves the Collectibles?" asked Bucky Barnes at the reflection standing behind him.

  
Steve couldn't help but grin as he slowly pulled out the giant paintbrush that he was holding inside his two minuscule hands out of the black paint tube. "Yeah, since we're pretty much a bunch of stuff that was gathered together to make a collection belonging to a person, Tony had the brilliant idea one time to baptize our group with that name. It's kind of nifty for a name, if you ask me." He pointed at Bucky's lower back through the mirror. "Arm that is supposed to be metal up, please." he said as he began to apply a layer of paint on yet another area where scratches and chipped spots ruled the day. "So those assholes that tried to make people think you were a smartphone really did a number on you, did they?" He couldn't help but ask.

  
And Bucky couldn't help but nod as he replied: "Yeah, good thing they got arrested for their scheme after that Scott guy reported them."

  
Steve nodded along as he said: "Yeah, good thing."

  
A moment of silence ensued, as Steve tried to concentrate on his work. But that attempt was quickly defeated when Bucky asked in a worried voice: "Before, Natasha said something about you not wanting to be anywhere near me."

  
This made Steve pause his repairing and Bucky the one now to drop his head as he added: "I mean, I could understand a Winter Soldier hating a Steve Rogers now that everything has been explained to me, but why would a Steve Rogers hate a Bucky Barnes?'"

  
And that made Steve quickly spring into action as, with a swift flick of his plastic wrists, he turned the small platform that Bucky was sitting on to make the long-haired man look directly into his eyes as he said: "I...I've hated Buckys for a long time because of what happened to me. I wasn't sold with a Bucky when I was made, like a Steve Rogers was meant to, I was all alone. But I mean, I know that nothing about this is your fault explicitly, since we've never met until now and, I know that all of this is probably very, _very_ weird to you as they really are to me and I'm really sorry for feeling that way and I know that these memories that I've got in my head of you _can't_ be real because I haven't even met a Bucky Barnes before today, but..."

  
It was one of Bucky's former grey finger, now coated in black and gold, that shushed him. As, with a small smile, the one they'd tried to sell as the Winter Soldier said: "You don't have to justify yourself, Steve. Those memories? They came back to me too just a half-hour ago. I don't know what they are or where they come from, but I feel like I've known you all my life, even though we've only just met. And even if...even if I'm a Winter Soldier and you're a..."  
" _Nomad_."

  
That made the long-haired man action figure chuckle. "Right. Even if I'm a Winter Soldier and you're a Nomad, underneath we're still a Bucky Barnes and a Steve Rogers. And even if our memories aren't real, where we both come from isn't real, hell even if all of the Steve Rogers and the Bucky Barnes of this world aren't real...

  
Steve couldn't help but close his eyes when he felt two plastic hands cup his own plastic cheeks, as a soothing voice added:

  
"I believe you and I are indeed real, no matter what happened on some screen or what is written on some box."

  
And, standing right there on top of a desk that was situated inside The Collectibles' repairing room that was actually Peggy Carter's Arts and Crafts' Room, a Steve Rogers Nomad Edition and a Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Edition once again became the best friends Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had once been.

  
And would always be, no matter what happened in any form of media or what story was written behind some toy box.


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New arrivals are on the way...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is, the end! Thanks to anyone and everyone that liked this story, even though it was a silly one. :)

_**One year later...** _

  
A chair had been pulled up, a crowd of plastic people had gathered around it and their leader, one Steve Rogers Nomad Edition, was standing upon the tippitest that his toes could get, to properly peep into the keyhole and take a glance at what was going on in the living-room.

  
"So, what's the update?" asked Tony from his spot on the kitchen counter, having being moved there for the night.

  
Steve moved his head a bit further to the left, trying his best to locate their owner among the crowd of gathered women.

  
He'd never seen so many women gathered in one place before, at least not in this limited of a space. And giggling, he'd never heard so much giggling.

  
He smiled when he spotted Peggy. "Well, she's in the corner taking yet another fill of Angie Martinelli's "Special Punch". And she's..." he took his eye out of the keyhole to put his ear against it. "She's thanking Angie, that is standing beside her by the way, for the brand new toys that she apparently just got."

  
A slight commotion began among the masculine side of the amassed group standing by the feet of the chair.

  
_"What?"_

  
_"New toys!?"_

  
_"Are they "toys" toys, or are they just like us?"_

  
_"Are we being replaced?"_

  
And it was one Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Edition, that raised his black and golden arm up and coughed to get said group's attention.

  
"Look, guys! I'm pretty sure we're not being replaced. If we were, I'm pretty sure we'd have seen some telling signs by now."

  
The trio set of Collectibles that had began to be slightly upset by what was going on next door all looked at one another for a second before nodding. Yeah, they were being a little bit silly here. *Especially* since Natasha's spy-like snooping about this so-called _"Sexy Party"_ had come up with nothing pertaining to any kind of future selling or substitution of any kind.

  
And it was said redhead, that had stayed as calm and as cool as she had always been, that cooled down the situation for good by adding as she crossed her arms together: "And what do we do when new companions come along?"

  
The squeaking hammer, the recalled lawn dart and the-two faced plastic man all leaned down slightly, like children being spoken upon by their mother after doing a bad thing, twisting their feet/base around sheepishly a couple of times before replying in unison: "Be casual and make them feel like they're home."

  
Steve smiled from his spot up-high. "Yep, just like you did so well with my boyfriend, isn't that right honey-bunny?"

  
Bucky couldn't help but grin back as the one that the TV and the Internet had taught him he felt love for came sliding down the leg of the kitchen chair and right into his plastic arms. "That's right, pumpkin. And I for one wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."

  
Steve rubbed their noses together in affection as he whispered back: "Me neither."

  
He quite liked this recent development into their relationship. Calling themselves boyfriends, giving each other cute pet names, much to the annoyment of the others. Holding hands, stare into one another's eyes for minutes on end, even drawing pictures of the other and giving them as gifts, it was quite nice.

  
Because hell, if Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes could do it in the Netflix, real-life adaption of their adventures that had *just* dropped their first season, then why in the world couldn't _they_?

  
And if what the Bucky Barnes and the Steve Rogers that appeared on the screen felt just an iota as to what their plastic counter-parts had begun to feel for one another almost the minute that they'd met one year earlier, then hell, they were one lucky pair of sons-of-bitches.

* * *

  
It was quite late, her friends had gone home and Peggy Carter was quite tipsy.

  
Damn Angie and her strawberry-and-filled-to-the-brim-gin-punch, damn her!

  
Ah well, even though she'd knew she'd get one hell of a headache on the morning, at least she got to score some major, _major_ remedies to her loneliness.

  
She drunkenly giggled as she opened the kitchen door and...

  
...since when was there a chair placed against it?

  
Shaking her head and blaming a lapse in her memory, she did as best as she could to place the chair back where it once had been, all the while trying to make the world around her stop spinning so rapidly.

  
When she realized that the chair was in fact back in its rightful place, she placed the box that she'd been carrying under her shoulders right onto the kitchen table, before turning a good 180 degrees and trying...

  
Emphasis on _trying_ here...

  
To make her way to her bedroom.

When they saw that the coast was clear, five pairs of eyes looked at the kitchen table,

  
Three pair of arms helped everyone get up there,

  
And six assembled Collectibles gathered around the large cardboard box as,

  
One by one,

  
A [blue dolphin](https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Adult-Sex-Toys-Wireless-Remote-Control_62074793036.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normalList.49.1a2922adWLPPPJ),

  
Something that [vibrated ](https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/G-Spot-Dildo-Rabbit-silicone-Vibrator_62028499900.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normalList.55.71cb474ejOuL6h)and that somehow made the dolphin loudly cackle,

  
Something that looked like a [spinning top](https://www.amazon.ca/Lovehoney-Tingler-Function-Vibrating-Medium/dp/B00I4PN18Q),

  
Something that looked like the thing that vibrated but [somehow didn't](https://www.amazon.ca/Lickerlish-Premium-Silicone-Suction-Lickerlube/dp/B01JM4X6BY/ref=sr_1_20?keywords=green+dildo&qid=1564854322&s=hpc&sr=1-20),

  
And finally, a rather [large plastic egg](https://www.amazon.ca/PPW-Wireless-Vibrating-Waterproof-Rechargeable/dp/B07GFHCP6M/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=sex+toys+egg&qid=1564854447&s=hpc&sr=1-6),

  
All came out and stood there,

  
As the egg proudly proclaimed to anyone within ear-shot:

  
_"Hi, we're The Guardians of Her Galaxy!"_  



End file.
